


Party Balance

by priestessamy



Series: Til Your Lips Explode [2]
Category: Power Rangers (2017)
Genre: D&D AU, Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition, F/F, Power Family, The kids are all secret nerds
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-30
Updated: 2018-08-09
Packaged: 2018-11-21 14:09:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 9,427
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11359077
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/priestessamy/pseuds/priestessamy
Summary: Billy has a new idea for team-building and training - the gang is going to play some Dungeons and Dragons in order to learn about playing to their strengths. This is technically a follow-up toMorebut you don't really have to read that one to enjoy this one. Trimberly will mostly be background goodness and fluff.





	1. The Ordinary World

Kimberly woke up with a beautiful woman in her arms. It was, arguably, the greatest way to wake up she'd ever experienced in her life. Trini was out cold, and at the moment she was craving some coffee. Doing so would require all of her finely honed ranger skills – keeping silent as she disengaged her arm from underneath her girlfriend. She tried to not get too carried away by the wonderful newness of that beautiful word as she slid it away, inch by inch. There would be time to get all giddy once she was freed.

Finally her hand cleared the space under Trini's waist and Kimberly grinned to herself with delight as she scampered down to the kitchen. She was humming a soft little tune as she danced around, shaking her hips with unbridled joy. Put in the grounds, fill up the chamber with water, set to brew, and dance like nobody's watching. Except one person was watching, because the smell of delicious roasted beans had apparently woken the slumbering yellow ranger who was presently standing in the doorway of the kitchen, leaning up against the door jamb. She had her arms crossed and the most satisfied grin of all time. “I'm starting to see why people put so much emphasis on dating cheerleaders. The benefits are amazing.”

Kimberly stopped and stared for a moment. She had completely forgotten about a very important part of Trini's promise the week before. She was, in fact, dressed only in her underwear – as it turned out, she didn't usually bother with pajamas when she could help it – and one of Kimberly's sweaters, which was too big and therefore made her look ten times cuter. “I suddenly don't remember how to dance... I can't remember anything. What's my name?”

“Kimmy. Your name is Kimmy, beautiful.” She came up to her and snuggled right up into her arms.

“Can I make it a rule that you never use that name around the guys? I'd kinda prefer if that was just like... an us thing...”

Trini leaned in as if to kiss her, but instead she captured her lower lip between her teeth, eliciting quite a curious noise from her. “It'll be difficult. But for you, anything.” Rather than following through with the kiss, she instead went to raid the fridge where she'd left all the ingredients she'd brought over. That was yet another promise that Kimberly had forgotten until this moment – Spanish omelette for breakfast. She had no clue what to expect, but Trini had insinuated that they would no doubt have leftovers for the guys at their strategy meeting that afternoon. Billy had some kind of grand idea for team-building. But that was the future, and right now she had a half-naked girl bending over to retrieve a carton of eggs from her fridge. The world outside could basically not exist for all she cared.

* * *

Spanish omelettes, as it turned out, were goddamn delicious. Trini had even brought enough ingredients to whip up some salsa as well, and the combination of all the flavors was enough to prompt her to eat more than she should have.

Each girl snagged a quick shower and got changed before heading over to Billy's house for whatever this mystery plan of his was. They were the last to arrive, and the boys were sharing knowing looks. Of course they had already told them that they were dating – even if they'd wanted to keep it a secret they never would have been able to. If Kimberly had to guess, the smirking was because they had some kind of betting pool going about whether the two had actually _slept together_ or just slept together. She wasn't about to justify their suspicions with any kind of response.

“Um, we brought food!”

Any concerns about who bedded who were immediately washed away in the wake of Trini's offering, which the three guys eagerly dug into. While they ate, Billy explained what they were doing there in the first place. “So uh, I was thinking back over our fight with Rita and I realized the one thing we're really lacking is party balance.”

Zack spoke through a mouthful of food without shame. “I'm guessing this doesn't have anything to do with cold beer and good music?” The interruption momentarily derailed his train of thought and Trini gave him a light punch in the shoulder. Luckily Billy found his rhythm again without too much leading.

“Right. No. Um. Party balance is an idea from fantasy games. When you have a group of adventurers, you don't want everybody to have the same role. Alpha trained us all to fight with basically the same techniques, which worked fine enough. But we can't just suplex every baddie we run in to. Sooner or later, we need to diversify.”

Kimberly laughed anxiously and looked around, glad to see that the others looked equally confused. “Um, I understood most of those words, but I'm still not sure what we're talking about.”

“So. So like. Jason. You're like the leader. So you're often the ones to make the calls. But otherwise, the rest of us just throw punches. We aren't playing to our strengths. So. I want to do a... tactical run-through to give us an idea of how to learn more about how we solve problems.” You could see that he was tense about something, but nobody was entirely sure why yet.

“Oh! Like uh... war games or whatever?” Zack spoke through his food yet again, but at least this time he had something more helpful to say.

“Well, I don't know much about running real tactical military games. But I am very familiar with pen and paper roleplaying games. Um, I'm sure you all are familiar with uh... Dungeons and Dragons?”

Nobody said anything. For her part, Kimberly had already taken a huge blow to her social standing with the teeth-kicking incident. She wasn't sure she could ever hope for anything normal again if she delved into the world of nerd stuff. Then again, 'normal' kinda got booted from her dictionary the moment she was chosen to become a power ranger, so there were worse fates.

“Okay.” Jason did his job and took the lead and agreed to the proposal right away. Besides, even if all four of them had their reservations about the idea, it wasn't like they could say no to that face. “You sure you can handle the four of us all being complete idiots about this?”

Billy flapped his hands for a moment or two before popping a stray piece of chorizo in his mouth then running over to a shelf, retrieving a massive stack of books and papers. “Look who you're asking. I planned for this.”

Kimberly's eyes widened. “Jeez, how much work did you put into this?”

“It's nothing, really. I can do some of this stuff in my sleep.” He waved off her concerns casually, and she knew there was really no point in pushing the issue any further. Already he was passing out confusing looking sheets to everyone – stuff covered in forms and charts, plus other papers printed from his computer covered in further information.

For the next hour or so he launched into the most easy-to-follow explanation he could give of his plans. It was a lot to take in, but as promised, he really had foreseen most major obstacles. “All I really need you guys to do is actually roll the dice and keep track of your health and stuff. I've got copies of your character sheets with me so I'll know your gear and abilities, just to be on the safe side.”

Looking over her sheet, something stuck out to Kimberly and she looked back at him. “Hmm, so... I'm a ranger in the game too? But what's a ranger-slash-bard?”

“Ooh! Yes, I'm very proud of this one. Uhhh, so so so... I gave you classes in ranger so that you would be skilled with a bow – just like in real life! But you're also a bard – specifically a dancer. You use your art to inspire the rest of the team. Because you're... you know, you're like... the heart of the team. And the nicest! Plus you have the best social scores – high charisma, excellent bluffing and persuading. So in conversation, you'll be the one talking.”

Her head was spinning, and she might have argued that Billy was clearly the nicest, but she opted not to point that out and just smiled pleasantly instead. Not all that stuff made sense yet, but she figured it probably would in time.

“Hey, uh, I know what an orc is, so I can kinda guess what a half-orc is. But why in the hell am I a monk??”

Once again he got that incredibly pleased look on his face, obviously proud of whatever it was he'd done. “Right! You're not actually a monk, not like... Okay so monks fight bare-handed. And I've given you a specialization where you focus on mastering fighting instead of a faith. Before the start of this story, your character is a pit-fighter.”

Trini looked significantly impressed. “A brawler. Nice work, dude.”

“And a uh... paladin? That means...?” Jason had a tiny bit of trouble figuring out the word, the poor guy.

“Unlike Trini, you actually are religious, a devout follower of the faith of Zeo.” Nobody could help rolling their eyes just a little at the cheesiness of that, but it did feel... sort of fitting. “Your main goal, aside from being a leader, is to act as a shield to everyone else – quite literally. You can also do some minor healing magic.”

“Hm. Cool. I'm down.” Jason nodded in approval. Inexplicably, everyone was becoming slowly more interested in doing this.

“And that just leaves you, Zack. You like to go unnoticed, and I've found that you like to occasionally make dedicated smart attacks in a fight. You're the rogue. You don't do as much damage as the others, but when you hit, you're much more likely to strike critical areas. You also have the sharpest eyes and can detect traps. If you're feeling especially clever or cruel, you can re-engage them to use against enemies.”

“Sounds badass, I'm in.”

Billy grinned and flipped to a stack of printed pages. “Then let's get started.”

 

 


	2. The Call to Adventure

Kara looked around her table at the gathered adventurers warily. Despite all working for the same mercenary company, they had never actually fought together before. She knew her companions by face and name, but little more than that. They had each built a good reputation as a swift worker. This, however, was their first time really meeting properly other seeing one another in passing.

There was Jaeger, the company's resident moral compass, one of the few people who killed for money but still liked to moralize on the side. But he put himself between you and danger, and he kept you alive, so no one begrudged him a little posturing now and then. He wore armor decorated with the sign of Zeo.

Zevran had found that, despite the common wisdom, it was actually much more profitable to murder creatures to protect caravans than it was to murder people for the assassin's guild. Other than that, who could say? He was quiet, eerily so, and sharp-eyed.

Toph had been discovered in the local fighters' pit and she brought that same disastrous power to fighting monsters. She usually wore little more than carefully placed bandages around different parts of her body, yellowed with age, to cover her chest and bloodied knuckles.

For her own part, Kara had once upon a time been an entertainer. But when the pay turned sour, she found someone willing to pay her better. While she wasn't the most dangerous in battle, her strength lie in her ability to make others fight harder through encouragement and dance.

After a few moments when nothing seemed to be happening, she decided to get the ball rolling. “I wanna seduce the orc.”

From the aether came a reply to her request. “Um. I mean you can. There's not really a reason to do it.”

Kara huffed softly, staring off into space at nothing in particular. “You told me yourself, I'm a social character, and I'm easily the weakest. I need someone I can depend on to have my back when we get into a scrape! The pal-guy is all... religious and junk. And the sneaky dude doesn't seem interested in talking. Besides, the orc is cute.” To punctuate her point, she gave a wink and a grin to Toph, who seemed as-yet uncertain how to respond.

There was a long, drawn-out sigh from the aether. “Fine. But you have to roll for it. The twenty-sided one, and add your charisma skill.”

“That's the uh... that's the round dealie right?”

“Round dealie?? Dare I ask what you call the other ones?”

Kara shrugged with an innocent smile. “The round dealie, the chunky one, the two tops, the diamond, the normal one, and the pyramid doohickey.”

“That was hypothetical. You _know_ that was hypothetical. Just roll the die.” Somewhere, far in the distance, one could just barely make out the sound of something rattling around. “A natural- You have got to be kidding me...”

With a wicked grin, Kara moved fluidly from where she sat over to plant herself in Toph's lap, brushing her hands over her shoulders. “You know, I could really use a handsome woman with muscles and scars to help keep little old me safe on this mission.”

Toph now took her turn to look at nowhere in particular as if searching for help. “Uh, and that's... okay?”

“She rolled a twenty. You're smitten. In fact, since our first roll of the day was a twenty, I'm going to say that any time Kimberly's character is within thirty feet of yours, you get... a +1 to attack and damage.”

The two women shared a sudden and impressively passionate kiss while their teammates stared on in wonder. They didn't even notice that a fifth person had joined their table – a gnome in worn blue robes, covered in tattoos. He cleared his throat, and Kara was at least willing to give him her attention, though she remained planted in Toph's lap for the sake of comfort.

Jaeger glanced at him curiously, one eyebrow raised. “You're Bodhi?”

“Comments about my size are unnecessary. I realize I don't look particularly formidable.” He gave a special glance in Kara and Toph's direction. “If you all are quite finished, we should really get started.” He retrieved a collection of amulets from his cloak and set down one in front of each of them. Kara's was set with a faintly glowing pink gem. “I am the sole guardian of a temple out in the forest. There's a rather nasty witch that is intent on attacking it. These gems will help ensure that the temple doesn't mistake you for an intruder and turn on all its traps.”

The four of them exchanged nervous glances. “Wait, this is a _temple_ we're talking about?”

“Well, we call it a temple. But it's also a vault to protect an important divine artifact. The Zeo Crystal.”

The voice from before sounded again with a slightly awkward cough. “Jason, I'm going to need you to roll a knowledge religion for me.”

After a second or two, a light dawned on the paladin's face and his brow knitted together. “Oh. Uhh... that... shouldn't exist. That was a holy relic lost ages ago. What is it doing so close to here? How does no one know this??”

“We have a great deal to discuss, but we should do it on the move. Come.” Bodhi motioned for the rest of the party to follow him, moving on without looking to see if they were following him. After all, if they wanted their money for a job well done, they would have to, regardless of how sketchy everything appeared to be.

* * *

“The Zeo Crystal is not merely a holy relic – it is the religion itself, in whole. For ages, it has provided select warriors with the skills to keep it safe and to guard the world. In time, its power to do that became known as the work of a god of strength and righteousness, and the crystal was downplayed as simply a conduit. Few ever realize the truth, because it matters little. The important thing is that others are inspired to protect their fellow mortals and act righteously.”

Until quite recently, Kara had lived a very small existence. Now she was coming to realize that this 'simple' job was anything but. Perhaps that was why some of the most notorious members of the guild were called upon.

Obviously, Jaeger was having the most difficult experience with this. “So it's all a lie then...”

“To be fair, nearly everything is a lie if you dig down deep enough,” quipped Zevran. No one really paid him much mind, which seemed to suit him just fine.

“Perhaps it might help if you didn't think of it as a lie, so much as an obfuscation of a greater truth. You are still dedicated to the sword and the shield. You still wish to see evil defeated and kindness cover the land. The difference is that you don't do it for a god you cannot see but for yourself and those you care about.” Bodhi really had a way of carrying himself that made him seem so much taller than the rest of them, despite his diminutive status.

“Perhaps,” was all Jaeger could think to reply.

Kara was afraid they were about to walk on in silence when suddenly Zevran held up a hand signaling everyone to stop. “Trouble...”

Out from the trees sprung an entire cluster of bandits with very obvious intentions of parting them from their gold. Everyone began drawing their weapons, and Bodhi gave a slightly aggravated huff. “We do not have much time to waste. We should deal with these fools quickly and be on our way.”

“Roll initiative, guys, it's time for your first combat session,” said the aetherial voice cheerfully.

Toph, eager to fight anything and everything, was especially skilled at taking fast action. She sidestepped to the closest bandit with surprising grace, following through into a flurry of blows that immediately knocked him unconscious. “If I wanna spit on him, do I need to like roll for that too or whatever?”

The floating voice sighed. “No. You just kinda... do it.”

“Awesome.” She hocked a massive loogie and spat it directly on his face. “You picked the wrong group to shake down, idiots.”

Zevran was just as fleet of foot, and used to moving about swiftly. Quick as a flash he was out of sight and up behind another bandit, driving his axes deep into him and drawing a large amount of blood. He looked... probably too excited about this.

Already the tide was turning and some of the bandits were turning to leave. Bodhi quickly summoned up a wave of roots and vines to trap their feet. Several fell to the ground, prone and unable to do much to protect themselves. One managed to avoid the magic, but Kara loosed an arrow that struck him in the ankle and pinned him to the ground. Knowing that they needed to be on their way, and not wishing to continue killing, Jaeger approached one of the remaining foes and pointed a sword at his neck. “You have one chance to find a new place to demand 'taxes' from honest people.”

“Hey. Tell you what. We'll go... far far away. From you. If you let us go. You'll never see us again.”

The paladin replaced his sword in its scabbard, then went to the other bandit, carelessly ripping the arrow from his ankle. “If you use that stolen money to seek aid for your friends, the gods might just look favorably on you. Get out of here.”

It was a wondrous sight to watch a group of injured, shamed men run off in fear of a ragtag group of mercenaries. If the remainder of their mission was as easy as this, no doubt they would have an simple time. Whether it was sheer luck, or word of mouth, they were beset by no more villains and were able to make it to the temple unhindered. Kara was sad to see that it was not even that spectacular of a building – a large open space with a peaked roof supported by multiple columns. Much of the structure was covered in vines and in disrepair. There were some places to sit that were still usable, a large altar, and an emblem to Zeo of a five-pointed star. Kara had not put together until she looked at it that the five amulets they'd been given bore the five colors around the outside of the star, save the green gem at the center.

Bhodi chanted as he pressed in a stone that caused the altar to shift aside through some ancient mechanism. “Red courage, yellow strength, black wit, blue wisdom, pink kindness, green spirit. We are, all of us, Zeo.” Beneath the altar there was a staircase leading down into a lower level. Just as Bodhi moved onto the first step, there was an imperceptible grinding noise. Zevran gasped and quickly grabbed him by the hood, pulling him out of the way as jets of fire nearly ignited him. “Th-The traps. They should deactivate in the presence of the amulets.”

There was a rather loud thumping behind them, as of something heavy approaching. They all turned around and saw a large suit of armor walking toward them, golden in composition or at least appearance. If there was a body inside, they couldn't tell. “My Mistress has claimed the temple for herself. And now that you are here, her plan is nearly finished.”

 


	3. Crossing the Threshold

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Had some trouble getting this chapter out, hope the wait was worth it!

Everyone drew their weapons and stared down the knight. Now that Kara had a few more moments to examine him, she noticed that he was most definitely hollow within his armor. Or, well, not exactly hollow. There was no body, only a kind of constantly flowing black mist that escaped through every joint and opening. The only other sign of life was two glowing red eyes.

“The Gilded Knight...” Bodhi said in a low tone. “Once upon a time, he served in the court of a wise and just king. And he sold his entire kingdom out, in exchange for being made a general in a local warlord's army. The queen cursed him to live for eternity in the armor he loved more than honor. And now he serves the Green Witch. No doubt because she has promised to set him free from his curse.”

“Wait, does that mean he's undead? And evil? Because I'm really really good at dealing with those kinds of problems,” said Jaeger with a hint of enthusiasm.

“Very much so,” the druid confirmed.

Jaeger grinned and spun his sword with a flourish, then began chanting a prayer under his breath, causing his weapon and shield to start glowing with a holy light. The knight just gave a hollow laugh. “You are welcome to try. But I was not sent as a disposable plaything for you to test your mettle against. I am here to stop you.”

Kara had actually managed to find her footing quicker than the others, and quickly cast a scream-spell directly at their enemy. It was ear-piercing and very carefully aimed so that no one else would be affected by it. For just a moment, the knight was staggered, which was enough.

“Oh!” Toph suddenly said excitedly. “Billy! I can do that thing!”

“What thing?” The poor voice really sounded like it was trying to be positive, but was also very tired.

“I can break stuff! With the thing! Uhhhh... dammit, what was that called...”

“Sunder, you wanna sunder his armor.”

“Yes. Yes I do,” she grinned, then instantly launched forward and landed a flurry of blows against the knight's primary arm, punching the metal as though it were nothing. Already Kara could see the obvious dents and could hear the slight grind of metal scraping against metal whenever he moved.

Zevran came in and used the curve of his axes to trip up the knight, despite their difference in size. With a heavy thud, he fell to the floor of the temple, at which point Bodhi quickly summoned up vines from all over that wrapped around him, pinning him in place. Jaeger moved forward, glowing more brightly than ever, placing a hand against the facemask of the knight's armor, shooting the bright light into his face.

It felt good, to do this much damage to an evil enemy. For a moment, Kara foolishly believed that they had already won the fight. So it was all the more disheartening to watch as the Gilded Knight suddenly burst up to his feet and through the vines. He had seemingly decided to go in order of who offended him first, and made his way straight for Kara. She gasped and was about to pull out another spell to protect herself when suddenly that distant, ethereal sound of rattling hit her ears followed by the voice. “Ooooh, ones are... bad...”

Kara tripped up over a vine she hadn't noticed before and the knight closed the distance between them, hand moving out like lightning to grab her throat, lifting and choking her simultaneously. Kara struggled against him, but there wasn't a great deal she could do against a ghost inside a metal suit. Thankfully, a certain half-orc was up next, and she didn't take kindly to what was happening. With a loud roar, Toph threw herself at him and landed another series of impressive blows against the arm holding her up. This time, she did a good deal more than denting it – wrenching it off and away from the shoulder and dropping Kara back to the ground, gasping for breath. “Come on, shiny butt. How about picking a fight with someone more your speed.”

“Zevran, see if you can fell him again.” The rogue shared a serious nod with the druid before moving over to the Gilded Knight, hooking his axes in against its ankles and pulling hard.

This time around, it didn't work nearly as well, except to get the Gilded Knight's attention. He turned around with a growl, and then backhanded Zevran away, not even bothering to use his sword. Taking hits was not exactly on Zevran's list of abilities and he flew back pathetically. “If anyone has any brilliant ideas, I would love to hear them.”

“Well, I was rather hoping to do this while our foe was on the ground, but this will have to do. Everyone, stand back...” Bhodi began waving his staff and humming softly, a cluster of gray clouds forming over the knight. They were thundering softly, and without much more warning than that, they fired off a series of lightning bolts directly into the Gilded Knight, causing him to cry out in pain. He may not have been alive anymore, but enough volts and you could still do the poor bastard some serious damage.

Toph was helping to pull Kara back up to her feet, brushing her hair with a concerned smile. Jaeger approached, preparing another heavy holy spell to deal the killing blow. Suddenly, a green cloud surrounded him, and as it dissipated, revealed that he was gone. Bhodi huffed softly and wafted it away with the end of his staff. “The witch called him back to her. It's good that she knows we are not to be trifled with. But I still do not like her down there.”

“Exactly how worried should we be about that?” Jaeger put his sword back in its scabbard and casually adjusted his shield.

“I had long feared that our missing sixth amulet was in her possession, and now I am sure of it. But as long as we have the other five, she cannot do anything truly dangerous. I suspect that is why she sent the knight up here. If she can gather all six together, she can open the vault that contains the crystal, and do terrible things with it.”

Kara sighed and leaned against Toph, hardly even realizing she was doing it until she felt the strong arm hook around her. Every new step of this job revealed just how little they'd been told. She wouldn't have admitted it out loud, but it was getting to the point that she didn't even really care about the money. She just didn't like the thought of someone destroying her world. The world had such fascinating and interesting things in it. And Kara wanted to keep those things safe.

“Well the good news is we're not really in a rush exactly. As long as we stick together and keep these things safe, she can't do the big bad evil thing. I mean, obviously we still gotta boot her. But the lack of a countdown is nice.” Zevran moved over to the staircase and tiptoed around it carefully, looking around for latches and catches, undoing it and then moving on to the next until the stairs were finally safe.

Bhodi and Jaeger followed after him with Toph and Kara bringing up the rear. “I mean, yeah, it's great that she's not going to destroy everything. But... Bhodi you looked really freaked out to realize that the traps had been altered or whatever. Is that her fault too?” Despite the common image of orcs as simple creatures, Toph seemed sharp and clever.

The druid sighed again. “Correct. This place is a dungeon for anyone that isn't welcome. But possessing one of the amulets should be enough to let the place know that you aren't an intruder. The fact that she has changed the rules is enough to make me... concerned.”

Zevran was currently picking the lock on a door, though his face was as easy as if he was just turning a doorknob. “Well maybe we can just take these things one at a time or else we're gonna go crazy. So let's start with the most pressing question – what the hell is going to come at us in this place anyway?”

“Normal traps like you've seen already, as well as some tests of character. That is actually a part of the reason that the four of you were picked to come here. Someone clever to deal with the traps, someone of noble character, a strong and courageous fighter, and a kind-hearted ally. Once upon a time, this place really was more of a dungeon, intended to summon warriors to its halls, then test them to see if they could work together and earn the right to serve the crystal.”

The arm around Kara tensed slightly, and she got the impression that Toph was trying to hold back a certain amount of frustration and anger. “Are you trying to recruit us? Because that was not part of the deal.”

“Not at all. I was just accounting for the possibility that the witch might try to lock me out of my own home. I suppose to that degree, I'm glad I was paranoid.” Kara didn't really appreciate how casual his tone was about all of this. There was so much being kept from them, rather important things that would have been useful to know ahead of time. But at the same time, she also knew that holding on to that anger when she was already stuck in the situation was pointless.

The door opened, drawing everyone's attention, and Zevran stood aside with a flourish. No one was really in the mood for goofing around, just entering the room instead. It was surprisingly empty except for a dais in the middle that was bathed in light that looked natural despite the complete lack of an opening in the ceiling. “The first test?” Jaeger said, voice dry and face uncertain.

“The test of heart. It is actually rather simple, Kara will step up onto the platform. The light is a magical production of the crystal. It will judge you, and if you are found worthy, then we can proceed.”

“And what happens if I'm not... worthy?” Kara felt tense, and not at all in the mood to be judged. But it sounded as though getting through the next door was kind of important.

Bhodi looked at them all sadly. “I'm afraid I don't know for certain. But I don't imagine it will be anything pleasant.”

“Great...” she muttered, moving up to the platform and standing in the center under the warm light. Then everything went dark.

* * *

When she came to, Kara was most definitely in a different room. It was a kind of crystalline chamber with a massive globe in the center. However, the longer she stared at it, the more her mind began to tell her that what she was actually looking at was much more than a model. Perhaps it was actually the world and she was very large. Or maybe it was a whole other world and it was very small. Perspective felt... difficult in this place.

From the other side of the sphere, a translucent multicolored being approached. “If the crystal is taken, everything will die.” The globe turned red as though it was being burned from the inside out. It most definitely did not feel like a model. It felt as though billions of lives were being snuffed out, every animal, every creature, every plant. It hurt to look at, it hurt more to think about.

Kara realized suddenly she was crying. “How can we stop it??”

“If you would allow me to destroy only half the planet, I could give you the power to stop the witch.”

She shook her head furiously, planting her feet and watching as some of the damage on the model receded. “No. That's not good enough. That's too much still. We're... we're saving the world, right? What's the point if half of it still goes up in flames?”

“And where does it become acceptable? One quarter? One eighth? Would you sacrifice one single person, chosen at random, to ensure the safety of the whole world?” The being was so passive, so calm and collected, and it made her furious.

“I can't make that choice!” she yelled, eyes brimming with tears. “I... I would sacrifice myself. Would that be enough? To keep everyone else safe?”

It actually began to smile. “That is all you need to do.”

And then she woke up.

 


	4. The Road of Trials

Kara woke up with her head in Toph's lap. It wasn't a bad way to come back to reality. Less great was the fact that her eyes were brimming with tears. Toph gasped and immediately started wiping at her eyes. “Holy shit, what even happened? You walked into the light and just... zonked.”

“Uhh...” Already the memory of the conversation was slipping from her mind. She could clearly remember the tone, the feeling, the mood. But the specifics were disappearing fast. “I honestly can't really put it together. I just accepted that I would have to do something really hard to fix things. But I guess I passed?” Instantly, the orc pulled her into a tight hug, nearly squeezing the life out of her just after she'd managed to survive her trial. “Urk!”

She was hauled to her feet and there was a round of congratulations as the door at the far side of the room slid open for them. The space beyond was dark, wreathed in shadow. Even the faint light from the gnome's staff only lit a few feet in any direction. It was a hallway, going off to the right and left from the entrance, and as soon as all the heroes were through the door, it shut behind them. “Zevran, this will be your challenge. The passage to the right is completely safe, and that is how we will reach the next door. You must take the one to the left. It will be absolutely filled with all manner of traps. Simply reach the other side and the door will open for us all.”

“Yeesh. Am I allowed to ask what kind of traps?”

“The deadly kind.”

“Of course they are...” he muttered as he stalked off down the other direction. With the weak light struggling in the magical darkness, the rest of them went the other way. Kara was holding her breath, awaiting the sound of a tell-tale snap or clap that would signal her companion's death. Instead, they only heard one grunt followed by a soft rustling sound. By the time they turned the next corner, they saw that Zevran was already waiting for them with his arms crossed and a cocky grin. “I think they expected me to weave around everything and deactivate all the trip wires and stuff. Way easier if you just do a sick wall-run over everything instead.”

“Woah, no, wait, I'm calling shenanigans,” Jaeger said to the aether.

The voice came back a moment later sounding vaguely helpless. “He wanted to perform a single difficult action instead of a bunch of smaller, easier ones. And... he was playing the character so I let him. Not my fault he rolled a twenty. We have to play to the dice, that's rule number one.”

There wasn't exactly much argument left, so they walked on into the next chamber. It was formed out of dense, sturdy sandstone. The room practically glowed yellow, and Toph took a few steps forward while cracking her knuckles. “Guess this one's mine.”

Bodhi held up his hand to stop her and shook his head. “Not so fast. Your test isn't going to be as easy as punching your way through a few monsters. A true warrior must prove her strength in creative ways sometimes. What if you're carrying someone to safety and you have to defend yourself? There are a set of manacles on that pedestal there. Put them on your wrists. Then the challenge will begin.”

“Kinky...” she muttered softly, then looked toward Kara with a cheeky grin. “Give us a hand, darling?” With her face burning, the elf went to the pedestal in question, taking the basic metal shackles. Bringing them back, she secured each half around a wrist, laughing in embarrassment as Toph gave her a playful wink before taking her spot in the middle of the room. “Maestro, if you please?”

From out of the sandstone, a number of monsters emerged. “Wait,” Toph said hesitantly up to the aether. “Are these just putties? They sound like putties.”

The voice from beyond huffed in frustration. “It's a real type of monster in the game. I can't help it if Rita's putties are literally just earth elementals. But... yes, that was kind of the idea. Just... ugh, roll initiative Trini, okay?”

After all the combatants took a few moments to square off, Toph went charging directly into the crowd of them, tackling one to her left and then spinning around to deliver a kick to the next. Unfortunately, with the change to her body's sense of balance, she overshot it. The elemental grabbed her ankle and slammed her against the nearest wall.

The manacles also made it difficult for her to get up to her feet, delaying her from giving another attack and putting Toph on the defensive. Still, Kara noticed that she was starting to get the hang of her new handicap and by the time the third elemental was swinging at her, she brought her arms up and easily blocked the hit. “Okay. Okay, I got this.” She drew in her leg and delivered a series of lightning fast kicks to the nearest monster, ending with a powerful thrust that left it utterly demolished, crumbling back to the floor. “Hah! Boom! Ey, Bodhi, you wanna throw in a blindfold while we're at it? Gimme all you got!”

Bobbing and weaving around the next few hits, she delivered a devastating dropkick to the next elemental. It went flying back into the wall, joining its companion in destruction. She was about to give another victory cry when the third grabbed her by the top of the head, then wheeled her around and slammed her viciously into the floor. Toph gave a pained sound as her body bounced slightly. Like a true martial artist, she gave a quick roll and was back up on her feet instantly, if slightly unsteady. “Time to end this.” With a flip, she was up on top of the elemental, sitting on its shoulders with her legs wrapped tightly around the head. With the added leverage, she flipped again, bringing the monster with her and crushing it down into the ground. Instantly, the manacles dissipated and she was free to stand and stretch. “That... was rough.”

Unable to help herself, Kara ran up to her and pulled the orc into a tight hug. “Yeah but it was incredible! You kicked their butts.”

Together, they all moved into the next room, a place lined with bookshelves, the air filled with small glowing blue particles. “This is where my trial took place when I first joined the temple. Thankfully, we don't have to go through this one.”

“Not so sure about that, chief. Looks like that other door is still locked up tight.” Zevran motioned to the other end of the room where the door was, indeed, still very much in place. “Think the witch might have decided to muck up the works a little? Seems like the kind of thing she'd do. Since all the other traps still work too. I think you're gonna have to relive it.”

He gave a long, low sigh and walked to the middle of the room where a single book lay on a pedestal, opened to a page in the middle. He stopped suddenly and looked back at the rest of the group. “I may not survive this. I don't know if prior experience will make me more or less susceptible to what is about to happen. If I fail, I will go incurably mad. Promise me, if that happens, you will put me down and find a replacement immediately. The longer the witch is here, the greater her power will grow.”

“If that happens, you have my word. But you haven't gone insane yet. So read the book so we can get out of here.” Jaeger's hand came to rest on the hilt of his blade, ready to draw it at a moment's notice. He was a good man, but he was also the sort of good man who would kill when the time came.

When Bodhi finally stood before the book and looked at what was on the page, it began glowing with that same blue hue. Shortly after, his eyes and tattoos began to glow as well. They could see his mouth moving and could just barely hear him muttering, but whatever it was, it was a language none of them knew. The longer it went on, the more intense the scene became until a wind started to pick up around them, getting strong enough to rattle some of the shelves against the walls. Only Bodhi and the book in the middle remained unaffected.

As quickly as the chaos had started up, it was over. Bodhi stumbled back from the book with another heavy sigh. “Ah... Well... technically it was easier, I suppose. I may not be at peak physical form when we reach the witch though.”

Removing his hand from his blade, Jaeger walked over and placed it on his shoulder gently. “Well... we're all in it together. We'll pick up the slack.” The door was open now and they all moved through it. Of course, the next room was the last, composed of red stones with a massive chasm separating them from the final door. “I can do a lot, but I can't really jump that far.”

“There's an invisible bridge...” Bodhi said softly, sounding more than a little winded from whatever that book did to him. “You can see clear markers on both ends where to step. The bridge is a single piece and there are no invisible holes you need to avoid. However, it was created with a nasty bit of magic. If you continue to walk forward, you will be fine, though your mind and body will attempt to distract and confuse you.”

“Right. Courage.” He nodded and started his stride in the direction of the chasm. Sure enough, his foot did meet resistance in midair, at which point he nearly stumbled. “Woah!”

None of them could tell what the problem was, and Bodhi was being vague about it still. Toph took a step forward and Kara quickly pulled her back. “What's wrong?”

“Feels like I'm falling, but... I'm okay. Just... vertigo, nausea. I'm okay.” He started walking again, but his pace was much slower now. If Kara had to guess, getting across a bridge that made you felt like you were falling was probably kind of a slog. Crossing normally would have taken only a minute, but by the time Jaeger reached the other side, it had been almost five. He collapsed on the other side, gasping for air and staggering to his feet. “Hah... Alright. That's the uh... the last trial down.”

“Okay but how do we-” Zevran didn't even manage to finish his question before the gap in the floor suddenly began to fill with bricks, creating a solid path for everyone else to follow. The door slid open and the way forward was finally clear. Rather than another room, the space beyond the door held an ancient lifting contraption, marked with the star of Zeo. Each took their respective place, and the contraption began lowering even further into the earth.

It came to a stop in front of a massive room, practically a cathedral – more of a religious space than the worn down temple above. Of course, that was marred somewhat by the evil presence stalking about. For how Bodhi talked about her, Kara had rather been expecting this witch to be some evil old hag, just like in all the stories. But she was fairly young and striking – not so much beautiful as handsome. Sure enough, around her neck was the last amulet.

Standing with her was the Gilded Knight to one side, looking ready for round two. On the other side was a small iron golem. “By Zeo, she's even enthralled Alpha... That's... incredibly bad.”

“How bad?” Jaeger asked anxiously.

Bodhi shrugged his shoulders. “Hm, on a scale of one to ten...? Eight?”

The witch began to cackle, and Kara decided to retract her thought about her being handsome. “I have been waiting for your return, my dear little companion. I cooked up a special gift just for you and your new friends!” Cackling more, she lifted up her hands, and the knight suddenly dissolved into a puddle of molten gold, gliding across the floor. Then it spread up and around Alpha's body, encasing him in an extra layer of protection and power.

“Jaeger, I would like to correct my previous assertion. The situation has reached a ten.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> On a tear, updating all my forgotten stories, so hopefully this one will be finished soon, probably with a bit more explicit trimberly goodness!


	5. Apotheosis

“Okay, so do we have any ideas about how to deal with this? I mean, I'm sure you would prefer we not destroy your friend there.” Jaeger drew his sword and held up his shield.

Bodhi shook his head, readying his staff with a grim face. “There's no need to worry. Alpha isn't really the golem itself. He's animated by an indestructible tablet hidden in his chest. The ah... main problem is that his body is made of incredibly strong iron. And now it's wrapped in magical gold. Stopping him will take teamwork.”

Everyone seemed to realize simultaneously that this put the focus on Jaeger and they turned to look at him for direction. “Alright, well... As long as they're together, it's going to be an uphill battle. We need to separate them.”

Zevran smirked, probably just to himself. “You make it sound so easy. The good news is that gold is notoriously soft.”

“Alright, we can work with that. Toph, Zevran, you two are going to help me beat the hell out of that gold armor until we can find a good way to separate them. Kara and Bodhi, you're going to provide backup, and once they're apart, find a way to stop Alpha.” Jaeger didn't leave much time between issuing his order and diving in with his two teammates.

Not wanting to slack on her own job, Kara started dancing away, sending all the healing and supportive magic she could to the others. The scene was a bit chaotic as the three warriors launched their simultaneous attack. Bodhi appeared to be doing the same, offering up whatever magic he could provide to make their lives easier. This might have been enough, but things were unbalanced by the witch. She put out hex after hex, interrupting anything good they could create.

It was an exhausting experience, and finally Kara grew frustrated enough to deviate from the plan. Drawing her bow, she nocked an arrow and fired it at the witch, hoping that she was too focused on spellcasting to deal with it. However, the woman was clearly more powerful than she had given her credit for. Without missing a beat, she threw up her other hand, the arrow dissipating mid-flight. The hand flicked, and the ground beneath her began to glow with a dark aura, a horrible sickening feeling washing over her. Despite her best efforts, Kara's legs gave out and she dropped to her knees.

Things didn't seem to be going much better for the others. Every now and then, one of the three fighters would manage to hack off a piece of the gold plating, only for it to slither its way back onto the golem and return to its original place. On Jaeger's command, they fell back while Bodhi set about undoing the hex on Kara.

She finally felt like she could breathe again, and with a helpful hand from Toph, she was able to get back to her feet. “New idea. If the gold is going to get all goopy anyway, why don't we just melt it ourselves?”

A finger snap drew everyone's attention to the gnome. “Yes! Melt it and then flash-freeze it. And then Toph can shatter Alpha's body so we can retrieve his tablet. It's going to drain me, but I will be fine. We can focus on the witch when this is done with.”

“Kara, I need you and Zevran to keep it distracted while we do this. Are you able to do that?” There was a flash of genuine concern on his face that touched her. She nodded her head confidently, and with that they were back at it.

The elf and drow busied themselves with being complete annoyances while Bodhi conjured an entire deluge of lava to drop on the gold-covered construct. In no time at all, the gold armor began to melt away, only to be swiftly trapped in massive blocks of ice. Before Alpha had time to properly recover, Jaeger came in with a heavy shield slam. Kara watched, not even bothering to hide her admiration, as Toph flipped past him and smashed her fist into the center of the golem's mass. And it actually created a fissure, which split open after another solid punch. The witch attempted to beat them to grab for the magical tablet, but Zevran was too fast, hurling it like a frisbee to Bodhi.

“Stand down, Green Witch. You are outnumbered and outmatched.” The gnome held aloft his gnarled staff, pointing it at her aggressively. “Hand over that amulet you stole and you might make it out of this alive.”

She just cackled again, which was mostly just unsettling at this point. The witch reached up, pulling the amulet from her neck and looking into the green gem. “Stole? Once upon a time this beautiful piece of jewelry was bequeathed to me. I was a part of this glorious order of yours. But then I realized that we were denying ourselves the true power we were owed. And for that, you are willing to kill me?” She turned her attention from the amulet to the gathered warriors, as if she only just became aware of their presence. “You know, these little trinkets are quite powerful indeed. They're linked directly to the Zeo Crystal by invisible threads. I've always wondered what would happen if that thread were to be forcefully severed. I have theories of course, but perhaps a proper experiment is the best way to find out.”

Bodhi took a step forward. The terror was plain on his face. “You're mad. That could unravel the very fabric of reality. You would do that out of pure spite??”

“Oh, sweet boy. You never did understand me, did you? What better reason could there possibly be?” Without even waiting another beat, the witch cast her amulet to the ground, shattering it against the stones beneath her feet.

* * *

“And that's where we're going to end it.”

Everyone at the table gasped as the story ended on such an incredible cliffhanger. Trini shot up to her feet. “What?? You can't just cut it off there! What happens next?? We still have plenty of time, it's only...” A glance at her phone shut down that energy and her eyes grew wide. “Holy shit, it's that late?”

Out the window, Kimberly could see that night had long since fallen.

“Damn, Billy. You got a bunch of jocks and loners hooked on your nerd game in a single afternoon. That's real talent,” Zack said with his usual smirk. “I'd say that calls for a party at the quarry.”

* * *

Admittedly there wasn't a whole lot to really be said about one of the group's usual parties. In their glorified junk-heap, they had a cooler of beer and a pile of snacks. Billy and Jason were playfully arguing over how to most efficiently get a fire going. Zack was the unofficial bartender – which is to say that he was the one with a bottle opener. Trini was on music duty, pushing her phone and portable speaker to their limit to pump out some tunes. And Kimberly stuck to her usual job of playing the mom friend, making sure the boys didn't overdo it with their pyromania and that Trini's music wasn't making conversation impossible.

But eventually things settled into their usual routine. Everyone was seated comfortably with a beer and something to snack on – Trini going the extra mile by making herself at home in Kimberly's lap. They were all chatting and laughing as they talked over everything from the game. In particular, everyone was still completely blown away by Billy's story-telling skill. “You were even doing voices and stuff, that was so awesome. I mean, that cackling you did for witch-Rita? Chills, seriously.” Billy was beaming like the sun from all of Kimberly's praise. Any chance to make him smile was a good thing.

“I was worried it would feel cheesy. But also I kinda wanted that, because I knew it would make you guys think she wasn't so bad. And then boom, big surprise at the end. I can't wait for the next session.” Suddenly his face fell. “Eh, if you guys wanna do it again some time. That is. No pressure.”

Kimberly felt a bit surprised by his hesitation, considering all four of them were so upset about the cliffhanger.

Jason cleared his throat, laughing nervously. “Uh, Billy, I'm afraid you're going to have to do this. You gave us dramatic blue-balls!”

That got an immediate reaction from everyone, a combination of painful groans and bright laughter. And just like that, they had a whole new reason to feel like a team. But this time, it was nice for it to be something so normal.

The feeling of normalcy didn't last terribly long, though. In the distance, they could see a strange meteor hurtling through the sky, straight down toward the ground. That was abnormal enough, but the strange flames of blue and purple were enough to get Kimberly's attention. It landed a moment later, deeper in the quarry with a chaotic boom. The five of them shared a somewhat weary look, but when duty called you couldn't very well ignore it. Jason was the first to stand up with a soft sigh. “Alright guys, that's our cue. It's morphin' time!”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this last chapter was kind of short. I hated leaving things unfinished, but I also didn't have enough of an idea in my head to give something more fleshed-out. I hope you guys liked this, and who knows, maybe I'll write some more pure Pink Lemonade fluff in the future!


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